The Lying Woods

by Ashley Elston

“I don’t like it, either,” he says. “Let me go see if they found anything out from the neighbors.”

  Mom shakes his hand, thanking him for coming, and I do the same.

  “There’s no way I can go back to sleep,” Mom says once it’s just the two of us. “Why don’t you crawl in my bed upstairs and get some rest? I’ll finish up down here.”

  “I doubt I can go back to sleep, either.”

  I help her move the chairs back so she can clean up the glass particles from the broken window that landed underneath them. Mom sweeps while I hold the dustpan.

  “Someone out there thinks we’re sitting on all that money. Or we know where it is,” I say. “Someone must really hate us.”

  Her broom stops moving for just a second so she can wipe away another tear. “Go upstairs and get some sleep. You can check in late for school.”

  • • •

  By the time I get up and drag my ass to school, it’s lunchtime. There’s a sticky note waiting on the table I’ve been sharing all week with Pippa:

  I waited around. Decided to see how things are going with the auditions for the play.

  I’m disappointed. Lunch with Pippa—as short as it is—has become the high point of my day. By the time I woke up, there wasn’t much point in coming to school since the day was mostly over, but I thought I could make it here by lunch. It sucks to think she waited here for me and wondered why I didn’t show, although there’s no way she hasn’t heard about what happened at Aunt Lucinda’s. By the stares and whispers, everyone knows what happened.

  I head out of the cafeteria toward the auditorium but before I pull the door open, I stop myself. What am I doing here? Am I going to lurk around the back of the room, watch her from a distance in the hopes she’ll come over and spend five minutes with me?

  I’m pathetic.

  Before I completely humiliate myself, I turn around and walk back to the parking lot. After everything that happened this morning, it’s probably better to keep her as far away from me and this mess as possible.

  Noah—Summer of 1999

  Maggie drags me through her friend Annie’s house. It doesn’t take long to realize no matter your income level, most of these parties are basically the same. Either the parents aren’t home or they don’t care what’s going on, music is playing, some girls are dancing, and every person is trying to get drunk or high as fast as possible.

  I was knee-deep in this scene back home and it almost never ended well. I refuse to make that mistake here when I feel like my life is finally coming together so I turn down every drink and joint that’s offered to me.

  “Hey, this is Noah, Noah this is Missy, Ella, and Sidney.”

  I nod to the girls and they nod back, giggling and whispering to each other.

  Missy leans closer to Maggie and says, “Warning you that Nate’s here. And he’s pretty wasted.”

  “Nate is always wasted. That’s not surprising.” There’s a bite in her voice I haven’t heard before.

  I lean closer to her and ask, “Is Nate the ex?”

  She nods and scans the room.

  Sidney says, “Let’s go hang out by the pool. It’s too crowded in here.”

  There are people everywhere. Most are like Maggie who just graduated but a good number are people who are back home after their first year of college, looking for something to do in this small town. I know this because they’re the ones complaining loudly about how lame it is to be back while decked out in their college fraternity or sorority T-shirt.

  Maggie grabs a beer and offers one to me, but I decline and say, “I’m driving.”

  Our small group finds a spot on the back patio and the other girls launch into talk of upcoming moves to college, last-minute beach trips, and how ready they are to meet boys that don’t live here.

  I have absolutely nothing to add to the conversation. Maggie links her fingers through mine and squeezes my hand gently.

  “So you’re the reason we haven’t seen Maggie all summer?” Missy asks.

  I shrug and Maggie leans in closer to me.

  “So, Noah, what’s it like working for Gus? I hear he completely lost his shit when his wife died. Went absolutely crazy,” Sidney says.

  My shoulders tense up and Maggie squeezes my hand again. “He’s not crazy. Just completely devastated,” I say.

  “Aww,” Missy says. “I think it’s so sad.”

  “Well, Daddy said some of them tried to go out there to see him and he ran them all off. Told them all not to ever come back,” Ella adds.

  What kills me is that no one knows the real Gus—all they see is this crazy guy, not the grief-stricken husband who lost the love of his life, too soon.

  “It’s been tough on him,” I say quietly. “Abby was a really special person.”

  They all nod like they understand, but none of them do except Maggie.

  “Well, look who finally decided to show her face!” A guy drops down on the arm of Maggie’s chair and pulls her in close to his side. I don’t need three guesses to figure out this is probably Nate, the ex-boyfriend.

  Maggie untangles herself from him and pushes him off of her chair and he falls to the ground, too drunk to catch himself.

  “What’s that for?” he says when he finally makes it to his feet.

  “You know what that’s for,” she says. “I told you not to come near me again after last time.”

  Last time? I tense, but she grabs my arm, keeping me in place.

  “It’s not worth it,” she whispers to me.

  “What’s he talking about, ‘last time’?” I ask her, but she shakes me off.

  “I’m going to find a bathroom,” Maggie says and hops up from her chair. I watch to make sure Nate doesn’t follow her but he seems distracted by something on the other side of the patio.

  Her friend Sidney leans in close. “A few weeks ago, we were at this charity thing at the country club, a tennis tournament raising money for one of the staff who was diagnosed with cancer. Maggie got paired with Nate. Her parents were there, his parents were there, and all of them were eating it up, so glad to see the two of them hanging out together. Nate was making it worse…putting his arm around her, calling her cute little names, basically making it look like things between them were all good.”

  Sidney keeps talking. “Anyway, Maggie kept pushing him away, telling him she wasn’t interested in getting back together. But it was hard with both of their parents egging him on. When the match was over, everyone was supposed to go to the dining room for a big dinner and Maggie’s parents pretty much forced her to go and sit at the table with Nate and his parents. I think he was pretty touchy-feely under the table. Maggie finally had enough and dumped her water in his lap.”

  As murderous as I feel hearing about this jackass touching Maggie without her permission, I can’t help but smile when I hear that.

  “Well, Maggie’s parents didn’t think that was funny. At all. And pretty much told her in front of everyone in the room that she had humiliated them.”

  Every muscle in my body tenses. “She humiliated them? Her dad should have kicked Nate’s ass.”

  “Well, he didn’t. He told her she had to sit back down and finish dinner but she ran out of there crying. It was horrible.”

  I press my hands into the seat of my chair, forcing myself to calm down and not do something I will regret.

  “You know, I think that was the same night we were all supposed to meet you for the first time. She told us she met this really cute boy and was going to bring him to hang out.”

  The night she was late and showed up crying. The night she wouldn’t talk about what happened.

  I keep looking back but don’t see Maggie. It’s been a while since she went to the bathroom and the hairs on the back of my neck are standing up straight.

  But just as I get up to go find her, I see her. She’s across the room talking to another girl, Nate is nowhere to be found, so I relax and sit back down.

  Missy leans close and asks,
“Do you know that guy, Robert, who’s been showing up at our parties lately?”

  I nod. “Yeah, he’s Abby’s cousin. Came in town for her funeral and won’t leave. Why?”

  She shrugs. “I don’t know. He seems nice enough, but there’s something about him. He kind of gives me the creeps.”

  I laugh. I freaking love hearing this. He always makes me feel like he’s in with this crowd, but maybe that’s not quite right.

  “What’s he doing that’s so creepy?” I ask.

  Her lip curls. “He’s so nosy. Every time I’ve ever talked to him, I feel like I’m being interviewed. It’s weird.”

  “Yeah, that doesn’t surprise me. He seems really concerned with what everyone else is doing. And he especially loves telling me about it.”

  Missy laughs. “How much longer is he staying?”

  “Hopefully not too much longer. I’m ready for them to go.” It’s getting old being the buffer between Abby’s family and Gus.

  Maggie makes her way back and drops down in my lap.

  Scanning the room for signs of Nate every few minutes, I feel like I’m on high alert. The way he acted to Maggie at the country club a couple of weeks ago bothers me all night. We stay a little longer but when we get close to her curfew, Maggie pulls me in the house and out of the front door. We’re almost down the driveway when I throw her the keys to the car.

  “I’m going to run back in to use the bathroom really quick.”

  She nods and I sprint back into the house.

  It doesn’t take me long to find Nate. He’s in the kitchen talking to a group of guys.

  “Hey, man. Got a minute?” I ask.

  He looks me up and down then says, “What the hell do you want?”

  “Fair warning, if you bother Maggie again, you’ll be dealing with me and I don’t give a shit about who you are or who your daddy is or how much money you have.”

  Nate laughs and his friends behind him join in. “She’s just slumming with you to get back at me.” He stumbles closer to me. “Her parents are worried about her. She’s cut herself off from her friends. They know she’s hiding things from them. They barely recognize her.”

  It’s like he knows exactly what to say to bring me to my knees.

  He’s drunk and cocky, getting close, his friends egging him on. “I told her sister not to worry. She’ll be off at school soon and she’s just rebelling against them this summer.” And now he’s in my face, whispering, “But hey, you should know…even if it’s just for a little while…you’re getting the best piece of ass in town.”

  He’s not surprised when I flinch at his words and his hands fly up to defend himself like he knows it was only a matter of time before I hit him. But living on the streets as long as I did taught me the best way to win is doing the unexpected. Even though I’ve bulked up since I’ve been at Gus’s, I was usually the smaller one, so I had to learn to be quick and use my brain. Most of the fights I won were done before I threw the first punch.

  I smile at him and he takes a step back.

  “I’m going to give you three chances,” I say in a loud voice to make sure everyone in the room hears me. “And I suggest you knock me out because if I’m still standing, you’re going to regret it.”

  His eyes get big. “What?”

  “Three shots.” I slide my hands in my pockets. “You better make them good.”

  His friends are getting rowdy behind him, encouraging him to hit me. I can see the beads of sweat that have popped out on his forehead. He doesn’t know me—doesn’t know what I’m capable of—and right now he’s probably regretting letting his drunk mouth get him into this. Nate has probably been in a fight or two but it’s not like the fights I’ve been in. I learned how to take a beating years ago, so I’m not scared of this asshole.

  “I’m not waiting all night,” I say.

  “What’s going on?” Maggie says from somewhere behind me.

  Damn. I was hoping she wouldn’t witness this. “Nate had some shit to say. And I’m going to beat his ass for it. But he gets three free hits first. Otherwise it wouldn’t be fair.” I hate this side of me is coming out and I hate Maggie is going to get a look at who I really am, but there’s no way I’m letting him off the hook after what he said about her.

  Nate cocks his arm back and swings at me but I shift slightly to the right and he misses, almost falling over from the momentum.

  His friends are howling with laughter and more people have crowded into the kitchen.

  “Two more,” I say in a singsong voice.

  He’s really pissed now and rushes me. Again, I twist away just before he makes contact and he slams into the wall behind me. He’s drunk and reckless and this is way too easy.

  His friends have turned on him. Instead of cheering him on, they’re heckling him.

  “Last chance, Nate. Better make it good.”

  He comes at me screaming, arms flailing, and I crouch down ready to absorb whatever he throws at me. He gets one lick in, but doesn’t do any damage, then he’s stumbling back.

  Nate is scared and he should be. I could break his nose with one punch. And that’s exactly what I’m planning to do until I hear Maggie behind me.

  “Noah, don’t. You’re better than that. You’re better than him.”

  So instead of hitting him, my hand goes around his throat and I back him up against the wall he just plowed into. I lift him up slightly and his hands claw at mine. I’ve cut off his airway and he’s flipping out. I lean in close and whisper, “Talk about her like that again and I’ll tear you apart. Are we clear?”

  He can’t nod or speak so I’m just going to have to believe he understands. I let go of him suddenly and he falls to the ground and pukes. Then he leans forward and pukes some more.

  His sickness has more to do with how drunk he was than anything I did to him but I’ll take it. He gets up and stumbles away. I can tell he’s embarrassed and to most guys that’s worse than an ass whipping.

  Maggie pulls me out of the kitchen, through the front yard, and out to the car.

  We spend the last little bit of our time together riding around and talking. She’s not happy about what happened in the kitchen but I can tell she wasn’t upset at seeing Nate put in his place. Ten minutes before eleven, I leave her at her front door after a very PG-rated kiss good night.

  I pull Abby’s car into the garage and am just about to walk to my place when I see Robert jog down the front porch steps.

  “What’s up?” I ask.

  “How was your date?” he asks.

  There’s a hint of anger in his question that I don’t get. “It was good. What’d you do tonight?”

  “I was at that party. And here I thought we were getting to be friends, but I guess you’re just ready for me to leave.”

  Shit. He heard me talking to Maggie’s friend.

  “Look, man, I’m sorry I said that….”

  He holds up a hand. “Whatever. I’d worry more about what Nate’s going to do to get back at you for humiliating him like that.”

  “He said some shit about Maggie that I couldn’t let go.” Truthfully, I should have just left with her and not gone back inside but I couldn’t get over that he’s been harassing her and not even her parents were doing anything to stop him.

  “I get it. And you won that fight without barely touching him, but don’t think he won’t remember that. Just be prepared for him to do something to get you back. He’s got a lot more friends than you do.”

  I watch Robert walk back inside and I feel bad about what I said about him earlier. All he’s ever been is nice to me and that was a dick move on my part to talk about him like that. With my head down and my hands in my pockets, I head into the darkness for the long walk home.

  16

  I haven’t been home from Gus’s ten minutes when the front doorbell rings.

  “I’ve got it!” Aunt Lucinda launches herself from the kitchen and practically skids across the foyer to answer the door. Mom told me
she’s been driving her crazy all day, spending half of it scrubbing the spray paint off the front of the house and scalping the grass to remove the words from the yard and the other half staring out of the front window like she’s waiting for the next attack.

  “Owen, it’s for you,” she says in a disappointed voice.

  I’m filthy from a long day of shaking trees and want nothing more than to jump in the shower and find somewhere to lie low while Mom thinks I’m at the dance.

  “Tell whoever it is I’m not here,” I say.

  “You know I can hear you,” Pippa says as she walks in the room.

  Damn, she looks hot. She’s in a short black dress and her hair is curled and she’s wearing more makeup than normal but not so much that she doesn’t still look like herself. She takes in how dirty I am, and my arms full of clean clothes Mom borrowed from Aunt Lucinda’s friend. It’s a suit her grandson wore once and I’m supposed to be wearing it for my date tonight. The one she thinks I’m going on with Pippa.

  “I was just about to clean up,” I say, still trying to figure out why she’s here, dressed like that. I know we’re telling Mom we’re going to the dance together but she’s really going with Seth Sullivan.

  I can tell she’s nervous because she’s clasping her hands in front of her so tightly that her knuckles are turning white. “I’m here to call in my favor.”

  “Favor?”

  “Yeah, the one you promised me. I’m calling it in.” She glances around the room and notices the scorched wood floor and the piece of plywood where the window used to be. “Are you okay? I heard about what happened last night.”

  “We’re fine.” Changing the subject, I ask, “What do you need?”

  “A date for the dance.”

  She could have asked me for anything else and I’d have been less shocked. I glance around the room, mainly seeing if Aunt Lucinda is listening at the door, and whisper, “I thought you were going with Seth?”

  She shrugs. “You didn’t go to the game last night, but he got injured at the end. He thought he was going to be okay but he woke up this morning and his knee is super swollen. They just got back from the hospital and he tore his ACL. He can’t walk on it right now much less dance, so I’m out of a date.” Pippa does a small turn in the middle of the room. “But I have this dress and these shoes and Mom paid someone to fix my hair and makeup and I really don’t want to miss tonight.”